wow three first ballot guys that is pretty good. I don't know how Moon got in on the first ballot though I thought he would have to wait for a while to get in. The thing that baffels me most is how Art Monk is still not in the hall of fame this guy's stats would suggest that he is one of the top twenty wide recievers of all time. I don't think Irvin can get in till Monk does. Congrats to all the guys who got in. Too bad Reggie won't be there his speech would have been one for the ages. I wonder if Madden goes in as a coach or a contributer.

__________________
Danny:I haven't even told my father I'm not gonna get that scholarship. I'm gonna end up working in a lumberyard the rest of my life.
Ty:What's wrong with lumber? I own two lumberyards
Danny: notice you don't spend too much time there
Ty:I'm not quite sure where they are

Warren Moon is in the top five, top three in many, of the important QB stat categories, made nine Pro Bowls (eight straight) and was a pioneer for black quarterbacks in the NFL. Other than Reggie White, Moon is the best candidate on that list. If he didn't get in on the first ballot it would be a sham.

Simply put this is an outrage!
But those who know me, know that simple is not what im about.
How can a league consider its highest honor to its players legitimate when this continues to go on? Michael Irvin is THE BEST ever to play the game. I know that this will be considered simply an opinion, and in many cases, a wrong opinion. Listen I couldnt give a rip personally what people feel my reasons are, I know only that if I needed fifteen yards on a late drive to win a Super Bowl I would only want ONE WR to throw the ball too.

I give Jerry Rice alot of credit for being the SECOND best WR of all time, but I ask you, and be honest, Who would you rather have for that one big catch, at the sticks, game on the line, with traffic all around? The guy who was revered for turning a two yard slant from his overrated qb into a long gamebreaking TD, or the guy who gave up his body with no regard to his career time and time again to get that big first down in the crucial times? I would obviously choose the latter.

I mean this is a guy who cared so much about the right things between the lines that in the first Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin run to the Super Bowl TOLD Alvin Harper that they were switching sides because HE wanted to be sure that the slant that was to be run on Harpers side of the play ended in a completion to slow down the building momentum of the Niners. Fate, and Aikmans ability to disect a defense led to Harper being the recipient of one of the greatest plays of that era (The crossing pattern that he broke off down deep into niners territory) for the Cowboys. Furthermore, during preseason when the little known WR the cowboys would use scored what would amount to their only NFL touchdowns MICHAEL IRVIN was the first guy from the sidelines to congratulate them and pump them up. Winning and the TEAM were important to Mike, and I love when he and Emmitt tell the stories of Irvin catching three or four strait passes to get the Boys down inside the five and Irvin jabbing Emmitt to "go ahead and take my Touchdowns". This is a guy who understood that winning is first and stats are a distant afterthought.

Does this make him a Hall of Famer? On its own, of course not. However when these idiots whom they lay the responsibility of voting for this honor start looking for excuses such as his off the field behavior (Which if memory serves encompasses TWO incidents, the coke on the table that someone else bought to the hooker party and mike got charged with, and the one in which the real culprit was Erik Williams and that one was dismissed on the credibility of the witness) or his recent demeanor on ESPNs NFL coverage they should really take what I have posted here and ponder on the balance that his work ethic, his ability to be a winning LEADER, and his ability to give of his numbers for the ability to win three world titles in four years.

Some of my close friends say it will be cool if they put Bullett Bob and The Playmaker in the Hall of Fame at the same time. I say two things. First it would have been a hell of alot cooler, and more appropriate to put Aikman and Irvin in together, (I would have loved to see them hook up one more time alas Dan Marino and Mark Clayton (The other mark clayton) last year off the stage and down the center of the spectators). Tell me that wouldnt have been great TV even for those fans who hate the Boys. Second, it aint gonna happen. Ill tell you right now I doubt that either of them get in without a change in the way things are currently done. Mike will be classy about it, but I sure as hell wont be.

In closing let me just say this. I believe that Both Rayfield Wright and Troy Aikman have an OBLIGATION to their respective teammates (Hayes for wright and Irvin for aikman) to have very short and succinct speaches on Hall of Fame weekend. Heres how they should read, "I appreciate this honor, however the fact that my obviously qualified teammate "Blank" (Put Irvin in blank for Aikman and Hayes in the blank for Wright) is being unfairly snubbed of this honor is bull ****. Thank you very much."

Short, succinct, and appropriate. I know this, if the roles were reversed thats what Mike would do for Troy, lets see if Troy still bleeds silver and blue or if that microphone and new boss have led him away from what made him great. You are on the clock Troy, You may loose a fan if you cowtail to the ever powerfull and ever corrupt machine known as the NFL.

Untill Mike, Bob Hayes, Art Monk and many others who deserve it are enshrined the NFL Hall of Shame will forever to me be a hollow Hall. Not worthy of ever mentioning again on this fine site unless it is to spit upon those enshrined and the very idea of such a phony baloney institution of crap.

Warren Moon would hold all the NFL passing records if he didnt have play in Canada for 6 years because he was a black QB in a time when it was impossiable. he led his team to 5 straight Grey Cups there and had an amazing NFL carrer. Skillwise perhaps the greatest QB all of all time. Marino numbers might have been Moon's had he played in the NFL for his entire career.

Art Monk is a better WR then Ivrin was. Its a crime Monk isnt in the Hall, but it would be more of a crime if the multi-time criminal Ivrin was voted in before him.

Thurman Thomas should be in sometime in the next few years. One of the best running backs year after year in the 90's. not a first ballot guy, maybe not a second but worthy.

How can a league consider its highest honor to its players legitimate when this continues to go on? Michael Irvin is THE BEST ever to play the game.

Well, I guess we went from having a serious discussion about this year's class to talking about Michael Irvin as the best wide receiver of all time.

This is only one step above that dude a few years ago who got all pissed that none of us thought Don Beebe should be in the Hall.

blackdogsong, gotta disagree with you on pretty much everything you wrote.
- Warren Moon was an excellent QB, and he belongs in Canton, but there is no respect in which he was the best of all time.
- Irvin's play makes him a borderline candidate for the Hall. The NFL and the PFHOF make it very clear that a person's off-field activities should have no bearing on his case.
- Thomas is a first-ballot kind of guy, and it's a shame that he wasn't enshrined this year. It was a competitive class, though, and I believe he'll get in next time.